


The Old Republic: Bisento Squad

by Dalastjedi



Series: One Thousand Stars, One Thousand Stories [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Knights of the Old Republic (Video Games)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Betrayal, Gen, Jedi Civil War, Main Antagonist Darth Revan, Master & Padawan Relationship(s), Pre-Canon, Redemption, Surrogate family, suicide mission
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:47:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24296842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dalastjedi/pseuds/Dalastjedi
Summary: Revan and Malak have returned to the galaxy, bringing with them an army and declaring war on The Old Republic in the name of the new Sith Empire.Their superior weapons, ships and tactics have cowed The Republic at every turn and conflict. It is only a matter of time before Darth Revan's forces cut their way through to the heart of the galactic government: The Core Worlds.To prevent Revan from completing his conquest, a reinstated Republic Admiral from the Mandalorian Wars has put together a special team for a daring mission that could turn the tide of the war - or spell certain doom for The Republic.
Relationships: Female Jedi Consular & Male Dark Jedi, Female Republic Trooper & Male Republic Pilot
Series: One Thousand Stars, One Thousand Stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1754065
Kudos: 3





	1. Prologue

**A long time ago in a galaxy far far away…**

THE SITH HAVE RETURNED.

Led by DARTH REVAN AND MALAK, the self-proclaimed DARK LORDS OF THE SITH, fleets of advanced warships and legions of soldiers wage war against THE REPUBLIC on dozens of worlds. Many worlds in THE REPUBLIC’s outer and mid-rim territories fell quickly under the ferocity of their attacks.

In response, the KNIGHTS OF THE JEDI ORDER have joined THE REPUBLIC to lead its armies in a massive counteroffensive. They understand that, should THE SITH triumph, the galaxy will be plunged into the greatest darkness it has ever known.

They are LOSING the war.

In a desperate attempt to halt the advance of REVAN’S campaign, a former war hero of THE REPUBLIC has devised a plan to cut the DARK LORDS off from the CORE WORLDS, but not without great cost…


	2. Part 1 Act 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm finally doing what I always wanted to do: write Star Wars stories to surpass the canon.
> 
> After recently starting up KOTOR 2 for the first time again, I had the urge to write villain!Revan and really show off what kind of Sith Lord he is/was.
> 
> And after rewatching Rogue One, I knew exactly how to do it.
> 
> I'll try to keep to Legends canon as closely as I can, but turns out The Revan-Old Republic Era was full of gaps in technology and infrastructure, so I'll have to make some stuff up along the way (though only when the plot demands it).
> 
> Anyway, let's jump into a new adventure.

**Act 1: Betrayer’s Bridge**

**Part 1**

* * *

Kommis had already lost too much blood.

In a split-second decision, Staff Sergeant Aiko Emeryss wrapped the lieutenant’s shrapnel wounds as best she could with the last of her bandages before spraying all of her remaining Kolto over his injuries. With any luck, the Twi’lek’s wounds would scab over and he’d stabilise.

Leave removing the shrapnel to the medics. Even _if_ they couldn’t get all the fragments out, Aiko had probably just saved her commanding officer's life. He’d thank her for that when he was conscious, at least.

_Probably._

With that taken care of, Sergeant Aiko left the lieutenant in the care of a corporal from another squad - whose name she couldn’t remember - and turned to re-join the fray.

The Jedi Civil War took Aiko and her company, the 27th Infantry Battalion of the Republic Army, to many fronts across many different worlds. Their latest campaign saw them fighting the Sith Empire across duracrete bridges of Mondaco, a city built into the mountain range of the craggy, mountainous planet of Olm Vasic. Known throughout this side of The Mid-Rim for the mineral-rich soil along its highlands, Olm Vasic was responsible for much of the agriculture in this sector of Republic territory, making it a prime trading hub for all nearby Republic systems.

A resource, no doubt, that the Sith Empire seemed intent on taking from them.

That was how the young sergeant found herself here; on one side of the largest bridge connecting the city’s Tower of Governance from the Tower of Commerce. Beneath them was the great chasm that the city was built over, which descended deep into the planet’s crust.

The bridge itself was almost 2 kilometres long and around 100 metres wide. Many other similar, smaller bridges connected the various districts that made up the city, allowing for ground transport for in place of air lanes. What was once a sight to behold by off-worlders had been reduced to smouldering battlegrounds by the Sith. Some bridges were littered with the remains of vehicles and war machines, others marked and scarred by artillery and explosions. Some had even been destroyed completely, whether by bombing or explosive charges, to cut off access to certain parts of the city.

For two and a half gruelling, sleepless days, the 27th Infantry Battalion had been fighting to keep the Sith from taking the city. On the first day, they lost the Tower of Prayer. By the second night, the Sith had taken the Tower of Residence and just 15 hours ago, they had lost the Commerce.

With many of their own wounded and more than two-thirds of the city taken, Aiko didn’t think it could get any worse.

Then the call from Tactical Command came in.

A member of the Mondacan merchant’s guild had provided the location of a secret supply depot in the Tower of Commerce. Among its inventory was a store of Hydrean Power Generators, lightweight field batteries capable of turning liquid water into energy.

Lieutenant Kommis had led a squad tasked with raiding the tower and locating the generators while Commander Ryme, leader of the 27th Battalion, distracted the Sith with a frontal assault across the main bridge. Their orders were to bring back as many generators as possible and make sure the rest wouldn’t fall into the hands of the Sith.

Kommis had been allowed to hand-pick the members of his squad for the raid – only a small infiltration team, the Commander had said – and Aiko had been among the lucky few tasked with following the lieutenant into the lion’s den.

They arrived at one of the landing pads furthest away from the fighting, and the depot was right where their intel said it would be. They even found a working grav-sled to carry all the power generators out with them, without running into too many Sith patrols.

Things started to go wrong, however, when a wing of Sith Fighters shot down their dropship before they could board it. Instead, Lieutenant Kommis had ordered them to lead the grav-sled across the main bridge – breaking through the enemy line and making a break for the Republic encampment.

It was the worst, most thrilling four minutes of Aiko’s whole life.

Though they had caught the enemy unaware, the Sith held too many vantage points and had them outgunned. Everyone was constantly scrambling for cover or evading blaster fire as they shoved the sled across the bridge.

In the end, only half the squad made it across the bridge – _half_ of that suffering from critical injuries – back into Republic territory, while the other half were pinned down by blaster fire with the grav-sled, just outside the Republic’s buffer zone.

Bringing her mind back to the present, Aiko’s eyes darted around the repurposed plaza until they landed on a discarded blaster carbine, likely dropped by one of the injured soldiers. Dashing to grab it, Aiko quickly checked that its cells still had power in them before darting towards the barricades set up before the bridge.

Blaster bolts streaked through the air from both sides, a single bolt narrowly missing Aiko’s ear by a hair’s breadth as she dropped into a slide. Coming to a stop when her boot met the ferosteel barricades, she immediately sought out the man firing volleys of blaster bolts from the nearby gun emplacement.

“Commander!” she yelled over the thunder of the laser turret, making sure to keep her distance as to not startle the other soldier.

“Staff sergeant!” Ryme called back after taking a glance to check who it was. “Where’s Kommis?!”

“Out of action, sir!” she shouted back as she lowered her blaster and crawled towards him. “Took a vibroblade to the side on the way back here.”

A look of concern crossed the commander’s hardened features. “Is he ok?”

“He’s stable, sir. But he needs a doctor.”

Something clattered against the ground nearby that made Aiko seize up. Her head whipped around to the black spherical object rolling about a foot away from her – a thermal detonator.

Instinct won out over fear and hesitation as the Human dove towards the grenade and grabbed it with fumbling hands. Once she was sure she had a firm enough grip on it, Aiko turned to toss it as hard as she could into the air away from her comrades. It’s mid-air explosion rocking their section of flex-inducted duracrete a second and half later, but it did nothing beyond creating a wave of heat and smoke.

Aiko continued to stare at the detonation cloud as she tried to regain her breath. The explosion was close enough that it left a ringing in her ears, but knowing how close she had come to being obliterated left her shaken. Her fingertips felt cold and numb where they had touched the thermal detonator, as if the device had sucked all the life out of them in the brief second she held it.

Only the firm grip of the commander pulling her back into a crouch was enough to snap her out of her stupor as he gripped her shoulders firmly. “Pull it together, trooper! Who’s the next ranking officer in your squad?!”

It took Aiko a moment to process the man’s question as her shock gradually wore off, a hand touching the blade at her back to calm her nerves. “That’s…me?” she replied hesitantly as she met his steely gaze.

Ryme’s eyes widened briefly in surprise before they narrowed with resolve. There was no doubt there as he gave her his next orders. “Fine then. Tell your squad to pull back – we’re withdrawing towards the inner plaza to refortify there.”

“What?!” she exclaimed, her mind now fully alert. “But the power generators are still on the bridge. If we leave now, we’ll let the Sith-”

“The Sith aren’t getting anything out of this.” Ryme cut her off. “Word came in from Tactical Command; they’re sending a squadron to bomb the bridge in 9 minutes, so I need everyone out of the blast zone immediately.”

This alone set off a number of red alerts in the sergeant’s mind. Why would Tactical Command call in an airstrike now, when they had been so insistent on sending a team in to retrieve those power generators in the first place. Aiko’s mind reeled from another realisation. “Sir, we’ve still got men on that bridge! You have to call the airstrike off, or- or ask them to delay it!”

“It’s too late for that! Fighters are already on their way, but so is another garrison of Sith troopers. If we wait any longer, the enemy will have enough forces to storm the bridge and we’ll lose the tower.” Ryme slung the strap of his repeater over his shoulder as he stood in a crouch, turning to give her one last sympathetic look as he grabbed a nearby container full of drained power cells and began dragging it back towards their forward base. “I’m sorry.”

Aiko turned to stare on at the distant outline of the grav-sled, hidden behind the smouldering remains of a destroyed landspeeder. She heard Commander Ryme shout the order to fall back behind her, and her despair quickly turned into anger. Drawing her blaster pistol in her left hand, Aiko cursed her decision for good luck before vaulting the barricade and sprinting down the bridge.

She faintly heard Ryme calling her name as he undoubtedly heard her discharge a few wild bolts at the slightest glimmer of silver armour, but she was too focused on her task to care. The blood pounding in Aiko’s ears as she ran was deafening, her heart pumping a stim’s worth of adrenaline through her system. The sparse cover as she crossed the bridge only served to put her more on edge as Aiko kept her head low while firing at the slightest sign of movement.

Aiko managed to make it halfway to the grav-sled – taking out at least one Sith Scout along the way – when she saw a micro-rocket soar straight towards her. Without thinking, Aiko threw herself to one side just as the rocket hit the ground a few feet from her, kicking up an explosion that sent her flying.

She hit the ground hard after a second in the air, breaking the stitches on her forearm and reopening a wound from yesterday as she raised both arms to shield her face from a shower of gravel while sliding across the bridge.

Just as Aiko’s momentum began to slow, she was suddenly struck with a new sense of vertigo as the ground disappeared from beneath her. In her tumble, Aiko had rolled dangerously close to the broken edge of the bridge, her feet now dangling helplessly over the side while her hands desperately grabbed at exposed ferrofiber cables sticking out of the bridge.

They held for the moment, but when Aiko tried to pull herself back up the metal cables the added strain caused the metal cables to slide loose, inching her further over the edge. In a panic, Aiko began kicking her legs about for anything she might use to support her weight and push herself back up, finding only empty air beneath her.

Her flailing, in turn only served to shake the cables loose faster.

Just as she thought she was about to fall to a long, sudden death, a hand shot out from over the edge to grab her wrist. Glancing up, she saw a flickering, gloved hand holding her by the wrist as a humanoid shape shimmered just above her.

It took a moment, but when she realised who had grabbed her, she couldn’t have been more relieved. “Rahn!” she called out to the squad’s pathfinder. “Do _not_ let go!”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Sarge.” He called back, hoisting her up with both hands. A wave of relief washed over her as she felt the bridge beneath her feet, but it was quickly replaced by panic as Rahnis nearly sent her tumbling forward with a hand to her neck. She realised why a second later as a barrage of blaster bolts soared overhead, narrowly missing their heads. Keeping low, they ran towards the grav-sled before diving for cover behind it.

“No disrespect, Sarge, but what were you thinking?!” Froj, her team’s field technician, shouted as all three hid behind the low cover of the grav-sled.

“I was thinking I outta save your lives!” she shouted back as a bolt grazed the edge of the grav-sled, showering the three soldiers with sparks. “Where are the others?”

“It’s just me and Froj. Everyone else’s dead!” Rahnis replied as he deactivated his stealth field generator, flickering back into view completely.

“Then we need to get off this bridge now! There’s an airstrike coming to blast the bridge apart in about 7 minutes.”

There was no time to mourn. Aiko knew if she stopped to acknowledge her fallen brothers-in-arms now, whose bodies littered the bridge around them, she wouldn’t be able to focus on protecting the ones still here.

The sergeant pointed her thumb at the grav-sled behind her. “What’s the hold-up with this thing?”

“Argh, Sith slime shot out the engines with an ion disruptor, or something.” Froj explained as he opened a panel of smoking, fused wires. “Only a third of the repulsors still work, which isn’t enough to get this thing back to base.”

“You sure?”

“Have you ever flown a swoop bike with only a port-side engine?”

“…Um…no?”

“It’s a bit like that!”

“Not to mention the two sniper nests the Sith set up in the rubble just over the fallen statue.” Rahnis commented, gesturing with his repeating blaster at the smouldering heaps of metal and stone several metres away. squinting a bit, Aiko noticed the glint of silver plastoid armour that gave away the hidden Sith troopers. “We’d be caught in a kill zone.”

“Ah, great.” Aiko huffed as she weighed up their options. “Only thing to do about it is to take out those sniper nests.”

“They have us outgunned and outnumbered.” The Duros technician stated. “Even if we could get within firing range, we wouldn’t stand a chance against them.”

Aiko anxiously checked the chrono on her wrist interface, realising they now only had five and a half minutes to get clear of the bridge before the airstrike arrived. Desperate, Aiko decided to make the only call she could to save the two scouts.

“Alright, new plan; you two grab a power generator each and make a run for it while I lay down some cover fire.”

“Whoa, hang on Sarge.” The other Human exclaimed in shock. “We’re not just gonna leave you here!”

“You can and you will.” She replied firmly. “The grav-sled’s toast and there’s not enough cover from here to the barricades. If I can draw their fire long enough for you two to get back, then at least the mission won’t be a failure.”

“Forget the mission, Emeryss!” Rahnis shouted in anger. “We all go home. Together.”

“We can’t all make it with those Sith scum covering our exit and we can’t fight back if we can’t get cl-” Aiko paused as her eyes widened, an idea suddenly coming to life as she stared at the pathfinder. “Wait, that’s it!?”

“What is?” Froj asked.

“Your stealth gear, Rahn! Their helmets can’t see through the light distortion field.”

“Wait, you want me to go over there and take them out?!” Rahnis exclaimed, shocked and a little worried for his safety.

“Not you – me!” Aiko declared as she held out a hand. “As soon as I clear out those nests, you two make a run for it back to the chokepoint, clear?”

Rahnis hesitated for a couple of seconds before his hands fell to his belt, unfastening his personal stealth device and handing it over to the sergeant. “You sure about this, Sarge?”

“No, but I have to try.” Aiko replied as she fastened the belt to her waist. Once she was done, she accepted the control glove Rahnis offered. “Don’t wait for me. Am I clear?”

“Yeah, yeah Sarge, we hear you. It’s just…” Aiko slipped on the synthweave glove when Rahnis paused, causing Aiko to glance up at him irritably. “You know how to use that thing, right?”

“Course I do!” she replied instantly as she fiddled with the controls of the glove. “It’s just…been a while since I used one.” Working completely off muscle memory, Aiko managed to calibrate the distortion field to fir her form and adjusted it slowly until the light on the glove blinked green. “There.”

“Uh, is it meant to flicker like that up close?” Froj asked, pointing a concerned finger at the sergeant just as a yellow light on the glove began blinking.

“Did I do something wrong?” Aiko asked as she smacked the belt with an open palm, hoping that would fix the problem.

“The, uh, device must’ve taken a hit when we were making our way back.” The pathfinder explained hesitantly. “Looks like it’s a little on the fritz, but it should hold up.”

“ _Should_?” Aiko repeated with growing concern as she stared down at herself, watching as the distortion field around her body seemed to stabilise after a second.

“You’ll be fine if you don’t make any sudden movements. Just go slow.”

“Blast it, there’s no time to go slow!” Her teeth clenched with a curse on her lips as she stood up. No shots were fired her way, so Aiko took that as a good sign. “…Look out for each other while I’m gone, yeah?” She asked in a hushed tone before vaulting the grav-sled and taking off at a low-run and ducking behind the nearest pile of rubble.

She stopped to catch her breath and check the readings on the glove. The distortion field fluctuated intensely and was working hard to compensate for her rapid movement, but stabilised itself after a few seconds. From there, Aiko continued to move between mounds of battle wreckage as she approached the nearest encampment of Sith Troopers – somehow still undetected.

She drew her blaster pistol in her off-hand, an Aratech DL-11 blaster model, as she rounded the rubble to flank the Sith Troopers. Just as she was about to take aim, however, one of the ivory helmets glanced in her direction and must have seen something, for he did a double-take before shouting and gesturing to get the attention of his comrades.

With her advantage gone, Aiko quickly snapped off a shot at the nearest Trooper, blasting him over with a single blast to the chest as the distortion field failed. She fired a few more wild shots at the team of Sith before diving for cover behind a nearby blast shield – leftover from the Republic’s fortifications further along the bridge.

The metal barrier protected Aiko from the barrage of laser fire the Sith sent back to her, but the sounds of approaching footsteps told her it wouldn’t last.

Slipping her blaster back into its holster, Aiko’s hand went to the hilt over her shoulder, drawing out the vibrosword strapped to her back. Pressing herself up against the cool metal cover, the sergeant waited near its edge until a set of greaves came into view. Then, it a blur of motion, she activated the weapon’s ultrasonic generator and spun around the corner, swinging her blade into the approaching attacker.

Initially meeting resistance against the Sith Trooper’s reinforced plastoid armour, she felt the vibrating blade quickly sink in to the Trooper’s torso as he was knocked to the ground by the force of the blow and she moved on to her next target.

She swung again at another Sith trying to raise his blaster rifle on her, knocking the rifle out of the way before swinging a second and third time. The blade caught the soft spots of his armour near his elbow and chest, slicing off the Sith’s arm before delivering a lethal slash.

As Aiko turned to face her next opponent, she was quickly forced to block an oncoming blow from the Sith’s vibrosword as he bore down on her with a series of heavy-handed swings. Any time she tried to create an opening or get under the Trooper’s guard, the Sith would either back away just in time or force her to block a riposte.

After a few seconds of duelling, by which point Aiko was beginning to tire, she decided to resort to using one of her less…conventional tactics. As the Sith brought his blade down in a powerful overhead swing, Aiko quickly side-stepped the attack before locking the blade to the ground with her own. The two struggled for dominance for a second before Aiko managed to free a hand and draw her pistol – firing two bolts into the Sith’s chest at point-blank range.

The Trooper dropped dead immediately, but Aiko fired a third, final shot - just for good measure.

She breathed out a heavy sigh of relief as she deactivated her sword. Before she could stop to catch her breath, however, her ears picked up on the sound of a nearby blaster discharge and had to throw herself backwards as a surviving Sith Trooper – the one she had shot in the chest to begin with – sprayed a volley of blaster fire in her direction. Aiming her blaster with lightning-fast reflexes, she quickly returned a salvo of shots that bowled the Sith over before gingerly rolling back to her knees, her motions pained from the sudden soreness of diving backwards onto duracrete.

Despite wanting to take a moment to rest, Aiko had to scramble for cover once more when the second encampment of Sith took notice of her and began firing on her position. Acting on instinct, she dove towards the nearby Sith encampment – now empty of former occupants.

Hunkering down against a deployable durasteel barricade that the Sith so generously provided her, Aiko took a second to gasp for air as she pressed her back against the cool metal pane. Aiko’s pulse pounded in her head as she thought about her next course of action – now that her cover was blown. Her eyes wandered about the remains of the encampment, when she noticed the discarded rocket launcher one of the Troopers had been carrying.

Scrambling towards it, the sergeant quickly checked it for ammunition and – upon finding that it was empty – quickly searched around for spare missiles. Carefully loading the unfamiliar weapon, Aiko waited for a lull in the barrage of blaster fire before propping the weapon along the barricade and firing right into the nest on the other side of the bridge.

The resulting explosion was bright enough that the sergeant had to shield her eyes once the missile made impact. Aiko couldn’t tell if she had hit anything, but judging by the lack of return fire as the explosion died down, she safely assumed that the threat was neutralised. She let out a breathy, relieved chuckle as she watched the smouldering, ruined cover for movement, unable to believe what she had just done.

Then, as she dropped the launcher to return to her squad, she noticed a lone figure marching across the bridge. Their black robes fluttered in the breeze and Aiko noticed the distinct glint of a chrome-plated steel hilt in their hand.

Her fear skyrocketed as she realised what she was staring at. Training kicked in a second later and she was vaulting the barricade and sprinting back to the damaged grav-sled.

“What are you moof milkers doing?!” Aiko screamed when she noticed the two squadmates still squatting behind the sled, their eyes following her as she ran past them. “Run! Dark Jedi coming!”

That seemed to get them moving, the two soldiers grabbing a power generator each as Aiko kept running. Her legs screamed for respite as the Republic frontline came into view. Close behind, she heard two sets of footsteps following her.

And then suddenly stopping.

Aiko wanted to keep her eyes forward as she ran – afraid she would trip if she turned around, but something told her to stop and turn around. Her eyes widened in shock and fear as she saw Froj and Rahnis only a few feet away, suspended in the air and flailing about as the Dark Jedi stalked over with his free arm reaching towards them.

“No!” Aiko shouted as she drew her pistol, but hesitated to fire with her Duros squad-mate in the way. Instead, it was Froj who managed to get his hold-out blaster free and fire a couple rounds at the Force-user.

There was a flash of red as the Dark Jedi ignited his lightsaber to deflect the two incoming bolts, dropping the two soldiers in the process. Aiko noted that – in that moment – the Dark Jedi seemed incapable of focusing on both tasks at once, but it mattered little as he deflected a blast right back at Froj’s hand, knocking the blaster away as he raised his blade to cut the two down.

Bringing his lightsaber down, the crimson blade instead met the cortosis-weave infused flat of a vibrosword. Yellow eyes rose to meet deep-green ones as Aiko forced both blades up and held hers out to the Dark Jedi.

“Go! I’ll hold him off!” Aiko shouted to the two soldiers at her feet, who only spared her a glance as they scrambled to get away.

With her team out of harm’s way, Aiko focused solely on the opponent before her, taking in each change – no matter how subtle – in her opponent’s posture. From the way he twirled his lightsaber to the confident, predatory grin that crossed his features, Aiko could tell that he was a cocky fighter – with the skill to back it up.

Not wanting to be caught unaware, Aiko struck the moment she saw an opening. The Dark Jedi, however, was much faster than seemed at first, as he brought his blade up to meet her with the flick of a wrist. Again and again, Aiko tried to force an opening or take advantage of an unguarded flank, utilising every trick and feint that she knew to get a blow in.

It was only when the Dark Jedi decided to go on the offensive that she managed to score a blow to his side. Using a flurry of light, rapid blows to force her on the retreat, the Dark Jedi was about to go in for a heavy overhead swing when Aiko delivered a grazing jab to the man’s armoured side.

Staggering from the cut, Aiko was able to easily dodge the Dark Jedi’s attack and put some distance between them as she held out her blade in one hand and checked the chrono on the other.

2 minutes 23 seconds to airstrike.

She needed to be fast or she wasn’t going to make it back.

“Impressive.” The breathy, pained voice caught her off-guard, and it took Aiko a moment to register that the Dark Jedi was speaking to her.

“Yeah, I know.” Aiko replied without any of the usual pomp as she struggled to catch her breath.

The Dark Jedi’s features morphed quickly then, going from a subtle attempt to hide his pain to a mad fury as he let out a shriek of rage that startled Aiko. Recovering much faster than Aiko could, he threw himself into another swirl of rapid attacks that set the sergeant on her back foot. Her heart pounded in time with each clash of their blades, the sergeant sure she was going to black out if this didn’t end soon.

For a moment, it looked like she would be able to withstand the lightsaber’s onslaught, but then Aiko lost her balance as she took a step back – her foot meeting empty air for a split-second as she stumbled into a shallow pit. Her concentration broken, she didn’t raise her blade in time or with enough strength to block the next blow.

Though the lightsaber only grazed her shoulder, the pain it sent through her system was searing and made her nerves scream with agony as she fell to the ground before the Dark Jedi. In a last ditch effort, Aiko tried drawing her blaster on the man, but the tip of the lightsaber was at her throat before she could even get her hand around the grip of the weapon. Off to the side, she saw him kick her blade out of reach as he towered over her triumphantly.

Nearby, the sound of plastoid greaves clattering to a stop drew her attention to a flank of Sith Troopers that had followed in the wake of the Dark Jedi. They kept their weapons trained on her as the Dark Jedi began raising his blade, poised to strike Aiko as his eyes scanned hers.

Whether he was searching for a trace of fear or a sign of surrender, it mattered not. Aiko gave him neither as she met his gaze with a defiant glare. This, however, seemed to satisfy the Dark Jedi’s probing as he raised his blade to strike.

Right as a blaster bolt struck down one of his men.

Everything next happened in the span of a few seconds. A Republic war cry went up as more blaster bolts followed, the Sith quickly taking cover as they desperately returned fire while the Dark Jedi raised his blade to deflect the oncoming blasts.

Looking up, Aiko saw that a group of Republic soldiers – all members of her squad – had advanced beyond the buffer zone to lay down covering fire against the Sith. The suddenness of the counterattack took them by surprised, and interrupted the Dark Jedi’s execution. Just as it seemed like he was about to advance on the Republic soldiers, Aiko managed to reach for the duranium shiv hidden in her boot and stab it through the man’s leg.

He let out a pained growled as Aiko stabbed him a couple more times in rapid succession, sending him to one knees as she shoved him onto his back and rolled on top of him. The Force-user snarled as they grappled for his lightsaber, raising his free hand to strike her right as Aiko pinned it to the ground by the elbow. The two wrestled for the weapon as Aiko managed to find the deactivation switch, jamming down on it as she brought the hilt closer to the Dark Jedi’s face.

However, the Dark Jedi proving to be the stronger of the two as he gradually pushed Aiko back, turning the saber on her.

That was until Aiko drove the shiv through his forearm. He howled in pain once more as Aiko ducked under the wild swing of his free arm as his hold over the weapon slackened long enough for Aiko to line it up with his neck and-

**Bzzzt.**

The body under the black combat robes stiffened one last time before going limp as Aiko deactivated the lightsaber. The young man’s face was permanently twisted in a visage of shock and pain, the reality of what she had just done finally occurring after staring for a few seconds.

_I…I just killed a Dark Jedi._

She heard about the threat they posed from survivors and had seen even fewer in person. Stories of how they could cripple entire squads with only their mind or suck the strength out of a man were enough to terrify even the most seasoned Republic veterans – and from what she had been fortunate enough to see, many of those stories were true.

Having the corpse of one underneath her, she felt a swell of pride and achievement for having brought down a foe that would have otherwise effortlessly cleaved through her company.

Still, Aiko couldn’t help but feel an inkling of remorse for him. The Dark Jedi looked young – too young to be on a battlefield, killing for the Sith.

She supposed they both were.

_Still, it’ll be one hell of a story._

“Sarge!” Froj yelled as he ran up to her, hold-out blaster raised and firing at the retreating Sith. “Can you stand?”

“Yeah.” She replied, offering the Duros a hand to help her up. “I told you idiots to run.”

“No man left behind, right?” he quipped while taking a couple pot shots at the Sith.

Aiko opened her mouth to say something, but then her chrono began blaring a high-pitched alarm.

Their time was up.

Her eyes widened in shock. “Go! Now! Airstrike’s coming!” The Duros didn’t need any further encouragement as they made a sprint for the Republic frontline – Aiko shouting the order to retreat as she ran.

Just as the ferrosteel barriers and Republic insignias came into view, a blow to Aiko’s back sent her to the ground, followed by a searing pain that made it hard to see.

She faintly heard Rahnis calling her name, but the pain spread rapidly and grew in intensity, making it hard to see and absolute agony to move.

Her vision gradually darkened, but the last thing Aiko was aware of before blacking out were the whines of Republic Starfighter engines overhead – and a pair of arms hoisting her up by the shoulders.


	3. Act 1 Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Because I forgot to do this earlier...
> 
> Disclaimer: Star Wars and all its properties belong to Lucasfilms and Disney. I am in no way affiliated with either companies, any of Star Wars' production groups or (god forbid) Rian Johnson.

**Part 2**

* * *

Everything was bright and bleary when Aiko’s eyes finally cracked open, her thoughts clouded by a heavy fog of fatigue as her senses gradually came back to her. The various shapes and sounds around her slowly came into focus as she turned her head left and right. She didn’t even realise her eyes were only halfway open until she tried to blink, finding they were already practically closed.

There was a persistent itch just under her right eye, but when Aiko tried to rub it, her arm was stiff with a thorough soreness in her muscles. The simple task of raising her right hand to her face was like trying to pry the exoskeleton off a Galican Shellfish, but she managed it after a few seconds.

The firm motion of her fingers around her eyes helped to bring her sight into focus, blinking the last bit of dreariness away as Aiko took in her surroundings. The sergeant realised she was in some kind of Republic medical ward, if the Republic soldiers sleeping in nearby recovery beds were any indication. None of them were from her squad, but she did recognise them as members of the 27th Battalion.

More memories came rushing back; the bridges of Mondaco, the raid behind enemy lines, the Republic airstrike that took out the-

“Sergeant Aiko Emeryss.” A synthetic voice startled her out of her reminiscing as Aiko glanced to her side, spotting a floating medical droid next to her bed. Its eight, insect-like appendages circled its cylindrical body and Aiko flinched on instinct as it flexed a couple mechanical limbs armed with long, pointed needles.

“Uh, hi?” Aiko greeted wearily, reaching a hand up to run her fingers through her neck-length hazel hair. “Who…bu- where am I?”

“You are in the medical ward of the Republic Military Outpost: Valiant, located on the Tourland Mesa of the planet Olm Vasic.” The droid replied curtly. “I am MV-474, the outpost’s medical and infirmary droid.”

“MV-474?” Aiko parroted, wracking her brain for memory of any medical droid by that unit code.

_Wait a minute..._

Aiko’s sluggish mind finally caught on to the droid’s words.

_If we’re at Valiant, then that means we haven’t left the planet yet – the war’s still going on!_

“How…how long have I been out?” she asked the droid, coughing to clear the dryness in her throat.

“You have been unconscious for: 1 day, 19 hours, 7 minutes and 25 seconds. Local regional time.” MV then began floating closer to Aiko, reaching out a couple of its arms to her.

“Whoa!” she recoiled as it angled a couple needle-tipped arms towards her. “What are you doing?”

“I am required to take a blood sample and check your vitals to ensure your body is responding well to the recovery therapy.” MV explained as it extended one of its needles. “Please hold still.”

“No needles!” Aiko exclaimed before glancing about to make sure none of the soldiers were awake to see her panicking.

“The injection needles are coated with a sterilising agent that also acts as a fast-acting local anaesthetic.” The droid reassured as it brought another arm about to clamp Aiko’s wrist and hold it against the bed. “You will not feel any pain beyond a slight pressure upon insertion.”

“Please don’t say ‘insertion’.” Aiko groaned as the needle drew closer to her arm, stopping an inch above the skin before firing deep into her wrist. The sergeant, much to her embarrassment, yelped out of reflex and tried to pull her arm away, but the medical droid’s grip was too firm. Instead, she forced her eyes shut and counted until the pressure on her arm was gone. Holding it up and examining where the needle had pierced her, Aiko found no signs of a mark as a pleasant numbness began to spread down to her hand. “Huh, that wasn’t so bad.”

“Your vitals are steady and I do not detect any blood poisoning from the Kolto mixture. You are responding well to the treatment.” MV remarked as Aiko shot the droid a glare. If it cared, MV never showed it as it dispensed a small glass cup from its underbelly and filled it with a jet of water from one of its arms. “You are dehydrated. This distilled, sterilised water will remedy that.”

Aiko hesitated a moment before accepting the glass with her good hand. “Thanks.” As soon as the water touched her lip, she quickly began taking it in gulps to quench her sudden thirst.

“You should recover completely by the end of the next solar cycle.” MV stated as it drifted over to one of the adjacent patients. “Commander Ryme has also been alerted to your active state and is on his way now.”

Aiko almost choked on the water as she spat her mouthful back into the glass. “Wait, what? Why?!”

“Commander Dayton Ryme asked that he be alerted as soon as you regained consciousness. Reason: unknown.” MV explained as Aiko sat up in a hurry.

“Well, tell him I don’t want to see him.” _Wait, no. That won’t work. Argh, Mynock Dung_! “Uh, tell the commander that I’m…still unconscious – I’ve got a concussion – I’m delirious.”

“Your physical and mental state are in perfect working order, and my behavioural core prevents me from lying.” MV stated factually. “Either way, Commander Ryme has already been alerted, and is on his way as we speak.”

Just then, the doors to the medical ward slid open as Ryme strode in – his left arm wrapped in a sling across his shoulders.

“Correction: Commander Ryme is entering the medical ward as we speak.”

Never before had Aiko wanted to hit a medical droid as much as she did now, floating away with what she deduced to be a smarmy bounce in its repulsor engine and mirthful chime in its processor beeps. She followed the droid with her eyes until it drifted next to the commander, where her eyes met his hard, unreadable expression and she swallowed to clear the nervous lump in her throat.

“MV-474, I’d like to speak to Sergeant Emeryss in private. Could you wait outside?” Ryme’s eyes briefly darted to the droid as he spoke, before returning to Aiko.

“All patients are in stable condition. I will be in the hallway until you request for my presence.” MV replied as it floated by the commander, who had taken off his helmet to reveal his close-cropped blond hair. “Reminder: committing patients to stressful situations is counterproductive to recovery.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Marv.” Ryme replied as the droid left the room and shut the door behind it. Leaving his helmet on the nearby chemical workbench, the blond breathed out a tired sigh and grabbing a gyroscopic stool, wheeling it behind him as he approached the brunette. “You look better.”

“I still feel like I was trampled over by a rancor.” Aiko mumbled as she rubbed a bandaged cut on her forearm. “What got me?”

“Stray blaster bolt to the back.” Ryme explained as Aiko reached a hand behind her to feel for the injured spot. She found it after a second between her shoulder blades and gingerly traced the outline of the scarred tissue. “At least according to Calic. He was the only one who saw what happened. No one else even realise you’d been hit until he dragged you behind the barriers.”

“I’ll be sure to thank him for all my scrapes and bruises, then.” She pointed to the simple sling across his chest. “What happened there?”

“Shrapnel - from a detonator explosion. Probably an itchy-fingered Sith who thought to create a distraction while they made a run for it.” The commander crossed his good arm across his chest as he spoke, a clear indication to Aiko that he was displeased about something. “While I have you, though, I thought we outta talk about your recent performance as acting-squad leader. Namely, your reckless actions on the bridge.”

She swallowed again as she resolved to keep her expression neutral as she spoke to the commander. “Am I in trouble, sir?”

“That depends.” Ryme grunted as he slid back down onto the gunmetal-grey stool. “I’d like your mission debrief of the raid on the Tower of Commerce – get your side of the story before the admiralty decides to court-martial you.”

As Aiko propped her back up against the wall, she squinted at the commander irritably. “Respectfully sir, I’m not in the mood for your jokes.”

“I wasn’t joking, Aiko.” He stated firmly, frowning at the sergeant. “You disobeyed a direct order. You endangered the lives of other members of the company to stage a rescue on an impulse.”

“I didn’t ask any of those men to come back for me.” Aiko argued vehemently. “I knew the risks, sir, and I was ready to give my life if it meant pulling my squad out of the fire.”

“That wasn’t a choice.”

“I don’t care if it was my choice or not! What, was I just supposed to leave Froj and Rahn to die out there? Like _you_ would’ve done?”

“You were supposed to order a retreat!” Ryme snapped at her.

“They would’ve never made it back without me!”

“As a staff sergeant, you have a responsibility to your squad – to this _unit_. We can’t compromise the mission or our orders to save every downed soldier.” Ryme argued. “The soldiers under your command look to you for guidance, instruction-”

“And inspiration!” Aiko interrupted. “Should I be inspiring them to abandon each other when things get too hot?”

“You can’t inspire them if you’re dead.” Ryme growled through gritted teeth.

“…Can’t really inspire them from the rear-guard either, can you?” Aiko shot back.

Ryme didn’t say anything for a moment, only fixing the brunette with a hard glare, before crossing his legs and leaning back on his stool. “Mission debriefing, sergeant. Start from the beginning of the raid.”

Reluctantly, Aiko slowly put together a coherent recount of her latest mission, pausing anytime her memory got fuzzy. In the process, she learnt from the commander that while Lieutenant Kommis was still alive, Aiko’s patchwork first-aid made it difficult for the medics at camp to treat his shrapnel injuries properly. He was currently recovering aboard the fleet’s medical ship while Aiko took partial command of his squad alongside Second Lieutenant Yula Jillis.

“Was anyone else injured?” Aiko asked, interrupting her recounting after glancing about the medical ward again and still finding no familiar faces.

“Nothing serious. One of two blaster grazes here and there, maybe some shrapnel from a stray grenade-” he gestured to his injured arm. “But we didn’t lose anyone else.”

She did her best to maintain a military standard of professionalism as she gave her report, but Aiko couldn’t help but let some of her personal frustrations with the matter leak into her recounting.

“-so I suppose we’ll never know if we would’ve been able to mount a counteroffensive and recover the rest of those power generators, since Tactical seemed so eager to bomb the bridge.” Aiko concluded as she levelled a flat, disgruntled look at Ryme.

“I already told you, Emeryss, there was nothing I could do.” The blond commander argued, bringing a hand up to rub his tired eyes. “The squadron was already on their way.”

“And where did the order come from; I wonder?”

Ryme’s fiery, opal eyes widened in surprise at the sergeant’s question. “Pardon?”

“I’m just a little confused here, commander.” She spat venomously. “If TactCom was so insistent on sending a team to retrieve those power generators, why would they send in an airstrike _before_ we could confirm that the assets were secure?”

For a long moment, Ryme stared silently at the brunette before sighing and placing a hand to his head. “It’s…difficult to explain, Aiko. Leave it at that.”

“Respectfully, sir, I don’t give a Gizka’s piss how difficult it is for you to explain: I deserve an explanation.” She shot back. “We lost half a dozen men on that raid, and three members of this company were almost killed by a friendly airstrike that we didn’t know about. Were we fed false orders by a spy? A traitor? Or does Republic Command just not care about its soldiers anymore.”

“Emeryss-”

“I risked my life for this company – Kommis risked his life for the company, and so did everyone else on that squad!” she began to shout. “We deserve to know what the ones that didn’t make it back died for!”

“You weren’t even supposed to be on that bridge!” The blond argued. “You were supposed to exfiltrate by shuttle the way you came in. I didn’t-”

“Didn’t what? Didn’t expect me to go back for my own men?”

“I didn’t know about the airstrike!” Ryme shouted as he shot to his feet, glaring down at Aiko as he spoke. “You don’t get it, Emeryss. You may be a good soldier – one of the best I’ve ever had – but you can’t see the bigger picture when it counts! Republic Command have their reasons for keeping us in the dark – all of us! You think I wanted to throw away the lives of my men? My brothers? I. Had. Orders.” Stopping for a second to catch his breath, Ryme let out a low hiss as he clutched his injured shoulder, accidentally jostling it during his tirade.

“What bigger picture?” Aiko asked hesitantly. “Enlighten me, commander.”

For a moment, opal eyes refused to meet the jade ones staring at them, before Ryme eventually relented and breathed out a heavy sigh. “Mondaco was a distraction. So was the raid.” Ryme paused when he saw the perplexed look on Aiko’s face, letting the brunette process what he just told her before continuing. “At this moment, the Republic is fighting the Sith across eight different fronts on Olm Vasic itself – and that’s not even counting the constant orbital skirmishes. Despite the invasion only being seven standard days in, the Sith have already managed to establish an on-world presence that they were using to coordinate all their ground efforts.”

“ _Were_?”

Ryme looked briefly impressed by how quickly Aiko caught on before continuing. “Yesterday, Republic forces on the other side of the planet launched an attack on the Sith’s main stronghold and managed to capture it. Reports are still coming in, but it seems like TactCom’s predictions were right: at the time of the attack, Sith forces were dispersed across the planet, leaving the stronghold unprepared for the strike teams.

“What the Sith didn’t realise is that we launched two attacks that day, one as a diversion to draw Sith forces away from the stronghold while the strike team got into position to take it.” He turned around as understanding dawned on the sergeant’s features. “We were never meant to succeed; we were fighting to create an opportunity for the Republic – make an opening that would let them strike at the heart of the Sith campaign here.”

“That can’t be!” Aiko exclaimed. “Command’s orders were to defend this city and the Mondacan ministry with our lives. You said it yourself; the Vasician high council prioritised the defence of Mondaco!”

“As a heritage city. Mondaco serves no tactical purpose to the Republic.” Ryme explained. “Why do you think the first thing we did was execute a city-wide evacuation? The only thing we were defending were government officials and local security who elected to stay and fight instead of flee with their people to secret covens across the planet.” He let the sergeant process what he had just told her for a few seconds before sitting back down. “For all its prestige and glamour, Mondaco’s just a trading hub – a glorified market and warehouse.”

Aiko’s fists curled up at her sides. “So, the raid…the power generators…”

“They were the final step in the diversion. Admittedly, you and your squad did a lot better than Command expected, but the recent capture of the Sith stronghold has provided enough supplies to support the entire Republic ground operation.” Ryme grumbled under his breath. “Apparently, the Sith were using the fortress as a stockpile for all sorts of resources to fuel the war here.” He let out a dry, bitter chuckle. “Including Hydrean Generators.”

She gave the commander an accusatory glare. “Is that supposed to make me feel better, sir?”

“I’m trying to put things into perspective, Emeryss.” He replied, a low growl in the back of his throat. “I only found out about this twelve hours ago, for crying out loud! Do you really think I’d have asked the 27th to fight as hard as they did if I knew we were just the distraction?

“I get it, Aiko. I didn’t fight and bleed for this rank only for TactCom to use my unit like Dejarik pieces, but we did the right thing. Everyone that died on Mondaco is going to be venerated as heroes for helping put a stop to the Sith invasion of Olm Vasic.”

Aiko stayed silent for a moment as she mulled over this. She didn’t know everyone who was assigned to the squad very well, but she always thought of her squad-mates friends. As a member of the Republic Army’s 27th Infantry Battalion, Aiko had quickly developed her own strong opinion on the battles she fought. Having started off as a cadet towards the end of the Mandalorian Wars, the Human had been a little disappointed – if not relieved on the whole – when her company received the news that the main force of the Mandalorian Crusaders had surrendered to The Republic, days after her first battle on Onderon.

She found fighting the Mandalorians both an exciting and terrifying rush and, while she knew better than to go looking for a fight with the warrior people, Aiko was a little miffed that her chances of proving herself against them had been…short lived.

Since then, her battalion had been tasked with peacekeeping duties across The Mid-Rim; helping to repair the damage done to the galaxy by the Mandalorian warmongers. While relatively safe and simple, it certainly wasn’t as exciting as what she had signed up for.

Then the Sith appeared.

Aiko got what she wanted from fighting the Sith, but also so much more. She got to watch her fellow soldiers fall around her, cut down by blaster bolts and lightsaber. She got to experience pyrrhic victories first-hand, as world after world fell to Sith control.

She got learn what it was the 27th Battalion was fighting so hard to protect.

So to know that the admiralty thought of them as nothing more than frontline grunts was…infuriating.

“What’s our next move, then?” she asked after a moment of silence.

“For now, your job is to rest up with the other injured while I organise the withdrawal.”

“Withdrawal?”

“TactCom believes that we can hold the planet with the garrisons already stationed here. The 27th Battalion’s needed on other planets along the sector, so we’re leaving after the second solar rotation.” Ryme explained.

“ _What_? We’ve only been here for a local week, and we spent the whole time losing our grip on a single city! There’s no way the rest of the planet’s fairing any better.” Aiko argued.

“It’s not our place to question Command’s orders. We’ve done our part here, and now Command believes we have a better chance at beating back the Sith elsewhere.” Ryme justified vehemently.

While she was still upset by the revelation, the brunette decided not to argue with the blond on this one. “Fine.” She huffed, folding her arms.

He stood to leave and let Aiko rest, but paused near the door to turn his head and regard her one final time. “You did good work out there, Emeryss.” He hesitated. “This was your first time, right? Killing a Dark Jedi?”

Aiko nodded silently, suddenly unsure of herself.

“I’ll be sure to put it on your record next time you’re vying for a promotion.” Aiko assumed he was joking, but Ryme’s voice was surprisingly even. “Be careful the next time you’re mingling with the company, though. Killing a Dark Jedi tends to draw a lot of attention to you – not all of it good.”

Aiko quirked an eyebrow at that. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Take it from someone who’s been in your position before.” Ryme replied somberly. “Everyone thinks they know what a Jedi’s like on the battlefield, and knowing you took one of them down is going to make people see you differently – even the ones you thought you knew.” Ryme shrugged. “Expect all sorts of reactions.”

As he left the medical ward and MV-474 came back in - busying itself with the other injured soldiers, Aiko was left to mull over everything Commander Ryme had told her as she leaned back on her hard bed, wriggling about as she tried to find a comfortable place to rest her injured back. Her thoughts wandered to Olm Vasic – and if they actually made a difference to the planet and its people. They wandered to Tactical Command – and whether they had any clue what they were doing to win this war.

They wandered to the face of the Jedi she had killed, suddenly wondering if that had been the right thing to do.


End file.
